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Is my milk really gone?

The first 4 days of my baby's life I didn't have any milk, I hadn't dropped. When I finally dropped I started breast feeding and supplementing formula. My baby was very frantic when trying to breast feed so he would latch but wouldn't eat very long. Because of the hectic schedule the past week I didn't get to pump or breast feed very much at all. Now that I have time, I don't feel the sensation of letting go and I'm not pumping very much at all, maybe an ounce from both breasts.
Does this mean I won't get milk anymore?? Is this the end of my breast feeding? :'(
Is there anything I can do to get my milk back?

Re: Is my milk really gone?

Uh oh, we seem to have missed this when you posted! I'm sorry about that.

And no, your milk is not gone forever! Milk production is all about supply and demand -- the more milk your baby takes out, the more your body makes. If the milk isn't being removed from the breast, production slows down. That's why you saw a decrease over the week when you didn't get a chance to nurse or pump very much.

So the key to increasing the amount of milk you have is to nurse and/or pump as much as possible. Babies are usually better than pumps at draining the breast, so if you can get your baby to nurse (a lot!), that's the best thing you can do. If he's not taking the breast very well, frequent pumping will also work. There are some good ideas and tips on increasing supply toward the bottom of this page: